Sweet Surprises

Here our a few pictures from the latest excitement in our house. The big thing was my cousin from Miami called one night. She was in Indiana visiting her boyfriend's family and they decided to detour through Lexington for a surprise visit. It was great to see them again -- I hadn't seen her since Cory and I got married five years ago. It was a fun surprise, as you can see from the pictures.

We also had an extra warm day and we broke out the pool. We weren't really sure if Marisol would like it or not, but as you can see, she had a blast!

Matt, Karen, Mom, Mari

Karen, Mom, Marisol, and Jocelyn
Don't they all look beautiful? What can I say,
I come from a family of hotties.

Mom, Marisol, Jocelyn,
Dylan, Josh, and David

Jocelyn, Karen, and Marisol

Karen and Marisol

I love this picture -- the two cousins dancing.

Marisol and her "Happy Sun" pool

Lita gave her the hose and she had as
much fun, if not more, with that than the pool.

She LOVED it!

I LOVE this face!

A pool AND bubbles -- what could be better?

Dancing

She stole Lit's iPhone for pictures.
She loves taking them and posing for them.

Picnic time! All that
playing made her hungry -- and tired!
(And in case anybody cares, her plate says Bose on it)

Summer Lovin'/Had Me a Blast

It's been a great summer so far. The weather has allowed us to be outside quite a bit, which Mari just loves. Cory built us a great porch, so we've spent even more time outside. I wish we had a few before pictures, because the difference is just unbelievable. I'm really proud of him and pleased with the result.

I'm keeping the blog post short because I'm putting a lot of information on the captions.

Here are a few pictures of our adventures so far this summer.

The front of our house before. . .

. . . and after. And we've even done more since then,
but I don't have those pictures yet.

The superstar hanging out by her Turtle Sandbox. Lito and Lita
got this for her and I thought she'd go crazy in the sand. She loves to play, but
hates to have her hands dirty. She'll play forever with the "spoon" (shovel), but if a
grain of sand gets on her hands, "Mommy. Yuck."

Not sure when this picture is from, but I love it.
This is one of my favorite dresses of Marisol.

Who is it?
Lito and Lita got her this house and we finally set it up outside.
It is now in our basement. She's got it set up with a light, chair, table, and everything. It's
her favorite breakfast spot.

Mommy and Daddy had to get in the house too.
Lita can't believe we fit.
The funniest part was us getting out.
There are no pictures of us.

This is her new funny face. Tia said I had to post this.
Too cute.

I love her pigtails.
I think she looks like Boo from Monster's Inc.

Marisol's first bicycle. Lita said she needed it
to help in her motor skills development. We ended up
at Toys R Us that night.
Spoiled?

Daddy says she can't ride without her helmet.

She loves to Whee!
Here's her own personal obstacle course.
It was supposed to be for Lita and Lita's house, but. . .
. . . it went south.

I LOVE THIS FACE!!!!

Easter Fun

I'm just now getting a chance to blog about our wonderful Easter. The whole house (well, except for Cory) got sick the week after Easter and we're just now starting to get over it. Marisol had a cold, I have a sinus infection, and Mom had something close to the flu -- she was even sitting with a blanket on. A sure sign she's sick from all who know her.

Easter was wonderful though. Marisol had her first Easter egg hunt. We wondered how it would go. She found some plastic eggs in a basket at Mom and Dad's. She would pick them up, smile, throw it, and yell "Ball!" She currently loves balls, and thin

ks all round objects are balls. She did great though. She walked out of the house with the basket on her arm, grabbed the first egg, held it up triumphantly, and put it in her basket. Somehow, she just knew.

She did well in church also. She looked adorable in her dress, and enjoyed carrying her purse around. Neither the Easter hat nor Easter headband went over as well. The purse has since accompanied us to the doctor's office as well as all around the house. Remind you of anyone. . . ?

Enjoy the pictures below from our Easter celebration.

Happy Easter!

Mari with her Easter slide!

The princess in her princess dress.

I keep saying she looks like a crazy lady at the Kentucky Derby.

The Easter girls.

Aren't we all pretty!

I love that Rachie's arms are linked
through Mom and Dad's. Too cute!

LITA!
Daddy, Marisol, and Mommy!

Marisol with her Tia.
Even though this picture is sideways, I love it,
so here it is.

Marisol finds her first Easter egg.

Tia helps her find more.

Are there more eggs?

Yes! I found another!

And another!

Putting it in her basket for safekeeping.

She was really good at finding them.

I remember hunting for eggs on this park when I was a little girl.

For the record, just in case anyone was wondering,
she never opened any of the eggs. I opened one and showed
her the candy, and she just shook her head.
She liked them closed this year.

Tia helps her blow bubbles.

Tia's a pro.

She loved being outside.
This may explain the Easter sickness. . . :-(

Dedication Day

I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.” And they worshiped the Lord there.
I Samuel 1:27-28 New Living Translation

I think as parents, we want a lot for our children. We have dreams for them that exceed any dreams we may ever have for ourselves. I'm no different. I want so much for Marisol: happiness, success, achievements. But if I could only have one thing for Marisol, my prayer has always been the same -- to be wholeheartedly, passionatly in love with Jesus Christ. We want Marisol to embrace our faith, not because of us, but because of who God is.

We know one day she'll have to make the choice to follow God for herself, and we pray she makes the right one. We know we have a huge responsibility in helping make that happen. To show our commitment to that and thankfulness to God for such an amazing gift, we had Marisol dedicated.

Cory and I love our church family in Ohio and have always felt their prayers and support lifting us up. That's why we made the decision to have Marisol dedicated at our church in Ohio. Pastor Steve did a beautiful job Rachel played piano and sang to "You'll be in my Heart" sang by Phil Collins in Tarzan. It was beautiful and I wish we had video. However, check out some pictures below.

Above is one of my favorite verses that is commonly used in dedications. We also have a cross in Marisol's room that has verse 27. I truly feel that way about my girl -- she's the child I've prayed for, and I am blessed she's been trusted in my care.